(PORTLAND, Ore.) - Religious and congregational leaders celebrate the call to equality by observing Equality Sabbath January 25th - 27th, 2008. During their regularly scheduled Sabbath observance, participating congregations will focus on themes of inclusion and equality for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

"This weekend reflects a spiritual act of solidarity," says Rev. Tara Wilkins, Executive Director of the Community of Welcoming Congregations and chief organizer of the event. "We feel that regardless of one's sexual orientation or gender identity, we are all children of the same Creator."

Each Equality Sabbath observance will reflect the unique traditions of the individual participating congregations. Some congregations will discuss equality in the context of a sermon, host adult education classes, table at a coffee hour or fellowship time, or make inclusive music selections.

Princeton theologian Robert Jenson, coeditor of the book Mary: Mother of God, says that the doctrinaire Lutheran pastor of his boyhood-who also happened to be his father-would have been appalled by his recommendation to pray to Mary. But for Jenson, appealing to Mary is not an insult to Jesus or God; it is much the same as prayerfully invoking the name of a deceased friend or relative.

Speaking in a ceremony dubbed as "Appreciating the servants of the martyrs", the president said, "The Zionist regime in the past 60 years has surrounded people in their houses and has killed kids and adults in the name of fight against terrorism."
All who want to impose themselves by force have reached to their end and human beings will not accept their logic, Ahmadinejad continued.

He concluded, "We must be patient and insist on our principles, so by God's help this puppet regime will collapse."

"Silence and solitude are the two most difficult spiritual disciplines in the West," Pete Scazerro, author of Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, told a crowd of 300 New York church leaders who kicked off their annual prayer retreat at Mt. Bethel, Pa., on Monday.

"We're not a reflective people, we are a doing," said Scazerro to the church leaders. "But unless we get to God, we cannot send a life raft to our church."

"It's a time of profound spiritual renewal for leaders who have extraordinary responsibilities," Mac Pier, president of COPGNY, told The Christian Post.

COPGNY seeks "to gather leaders in an upper room prayer experience with Jesus," said Pier, who has been involved with the organization in New York City since 1991.

Ahmadinejad, who has repeatedly threatened Israel with destruction, chose to make his comments while touring the town of Bushehr, where Russia is currently constructing a nuclear reactor for Iran.

Earlier this week Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak publicly aired his belief that the Iranians are already working to build nuclear warheads for the surface-to- surface missiles.

"What we have right now is the last chapter, which the Palestinians and regional nations will confront and eventually turn in Palestine's favor," the Iranian leader said in a nationally televised message.

"Our hope is to begin to move the church to the place where its public image, public witness and public identity is one of a community of faith that is eager to engage science and to welcome and honor scientists," said the Rev. John H. Thomas, the UCC's general minister and president, in a statement.

The 1.2 million-member UCC said the science campaign is part of its "God is still speaking" initiative, which seeks to reach out to groups of people that have been marginalized by the church, either intentionally or unintentionally.

Some pastors who listened to Warren's pitch were hopeful that the purpose driven campaign could be the gateway to the unity they have been longing for. "It would help people see unity [among the churches]. They hear about it, talk about it, but they have never seen it," said Trevor Rankine, pastor of World Harvest Deliverance Church in Queens, during a regional breakout session at the retreat.

Underlining that "the world needs a church that is one and united in its witness," Kobia referred to the unrest in his home country which has led to more than 800 deaths. "The common witness of the churches for reconciliation and healing of the nation is crucial for peace in Kenya," the WCC general secretary stated.